4 killed in suspected US strike

Mirnashah, Oct. 1: A missile strike by a suspected US spy drone hit a house in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, killing at least four people and wounding nine, security officials said on Wednesday.

The attack is the latest in a string of incidents on the rugged frontier that have raised tensions between Islamabad and Washington, including a clash between Pakistani troops and US-led forces. It happened shortly after Pashtun tribesmen shot at three drones circling the village of Khusali Toorikhel in North Waziristan. "After the drones came under fire a missile hit a house in the village. We have four dead now and nine people were injured," a security official said. —AFP

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Blaze at theatre in Japan kills 15

By SHINO YUASA

Tokyo

Oct. 1: A pre-dawn fire raged through an adult video theatre in the western Japanese city Osaka, killing at least 15 people and injuring 10 others, police and fire department officials said on Wednesday.

The police arrested one of the customers on suspicion of arson and attempted murder, Osaka police spokesman Kengo Hirami said. The suspect admitted to police that he set fire using a stash of newspapers in his bag. The blaze broke out at about 3 am in the Cats Adult Video Theatre, located on the ground floor of a seven-story building in an entertainment district in Japan’s second-largest city, fire department official Yuko Kotani said.

Mr Hirami said officials were still trying to determine the identities of the 15 dead. Several of the injured, nine men and one woman, were in a serious condition in hospital. When the fire started, most of the theatre’s 32 viewing cubicles each equipped with a cot, a television and a DVD player, were occupied.

—AP